The Qur’anic Root Ḥ L Q

1. Introducing the root and its Qur’anic forms

The three-consonant Arabic root Ḥ L Q has several recognized semantic fields: shaving and removing hair; rings and round or circular things; and, in some uses, rising or circling in the air. Ḥalq, meaning the throat, is also examined within this linguistic family.

In the Qur’an the root chiefly concerns shaving the head in the context of ḥajj and ʿumrah. Al-ḥulqūm in Al-Wāqiʿah also denotes the throat, although its precise root structure is disputed among lexicographers.

The Qur’anic morphological index records three occurrences in three verses across three surahs under Ḥ L Q:

• حَلَقَ / يَحْلِقُ (ḥalaqa / yaḥliqu): to shave or remove hair. Qur’anic: yes, as taḥliqū in Al-Baqarah 2:196.
• حَلَّقَ / يُحَلِّقُ (ḥallaqa / yuḥalliqu): to shave hair; Form II can express plurality or extent of action. Qur’anic: yes, in the active participle muḥalliqīn in Al-Fatḥ 48:27.
• حُلْقُوم (ḥulqūm): the throat, particularly the respiratory passage in the neck. Qur’anic: yes, in Al-Wāqiʿah 56:83. Its assignment to triliteral Ḥ L Q or quadriliteral Ḥ L Q M is lexically disputed.
• حَلْق (ḥalq): shaving hair, and in another use, the throat. Qur’anic: no, as an independent noun.
• حَلْقَة / حِلْقَة (ḥalqah / ḥilqah): a ring, round object, or people seated in a circle. Qur’anic: no.
• حَلْقَات / حِلَق (ḥalqāt / ḥilaq): plurals associated with ḥalqah. Qur’anic: no.
• حَالِق (ḥāliq): someone shaving hair; in another use, high or elevated. Qur’anic: no.
• حَلَّاق / حِلَاقَة (ḥallāq / ḥilāqah): a barber and the craft of shaving. Qur’anic: no.
• حَلِيق / مَحْلُوق (ḥalīq / maḥlūq): shaved or hairless. Qur’anic: no.
• تَحْلِيق (taḥlīq): shaving hair, or in another use, a bird rising or circling in the air. Qur’anic: no, as an independent verbal noun.
• اِحْتَلَقَ / اِحْتِلَاق (iḥtalaqa / iḥtilāq): shaving or removing hair; figuratively, eliminating or destroying. Qur’anic: no.
• تَحَلَّقَ (taḥallaqa): to gather in a circle or surround something. Qur’anic: no.
• حُلْقُوم / حَلَاقِيم (ḥulqūm / ḥalāqīm): throat and throats. Qur’anic: only the singular al-ḥulqūm.

Arabic usage therefore extends well beyond direct Qur’anic usage. Metal rings, circles of people, and circling flight do not occur in the Qur’an as independent forms of this root.

Sharing three letters does not, however, establish that all branches developed from one demonstrated original image. Each linguistic form must be examined first, followed by its context.

Quranic Arabic Corpus: three occurrences including al-ḥulqūm

2. Semantic cores in early Arabic

Shaving and removing hair

One clear Arabic use of ḥalaqa is shaving the hair of the head.

Ḥalaqa raʾsahu describes someone shaving their own or another person’s head. The action removes the head’s hair; it does not cut off the head itself.

This matters in translation because Arabic can make raʾs, “head,” the object even though the action affects its hair.

Ḥalaqa shaʿrahu also occurs, making the hair itself the object.

Two constructions can consequently describe the same action: shaving the head and shaving its hair.

Early lexical uses are not restricted to humans; the verb also describes removing goats’ hair. This does not make every way of shortening an animal’s hair ḥalq in Arabic.

Other verbs, including jazza, also concern cutting wool or hair. The hair, implement, and manner of cutting affect the choice of word.

The principal feature of ḥalq in this field is removing hair at its growing surface, distinct from shortening part of its length.

The verb alone nevertheless cannot specify a particular razor, implement, or standardized method. The implement and manner are not fixed components of ḥalq.

Rings and round structures

Arabic ḥalqah denotes something round or ring-shaped, such as an iron ring, a door ring, or a ring made of metal.

It also denotes people seated in a circle or around one another.

The name for the shape and spatial arrangement has thus been applied to a gathering of people.

Early ḥalqah also describes certain parts of armor and implements containing rings.

The round-shape field therefore has independent linguistic support, rather than being a new mental image.

The meaning “ring” nevertheless cannot establish that shaving was necessarily named after the hand or implement moving circularly over the head.

An implement may move in various directions during shaving; that fact does not adequately explain historical naming.

Two propositions must therefore be distinguished: “ring” belongs to this linguistic family, but “shaving” was not necessarily named because of circular movement.

Rising and circling in the air

Early Arabic uses ḥallaqa al-ṭāʾir of a bird rising or circling in the air.

Height and sometimes circular movement are prominent.

Ḥāliq can also describe a high place or something greatly elevated.

This branch differs semantically from shaving hair.

Circling flight and the ring shape can be connected imaginatively, but every use involving height cannot be explained solely through circular movement.

The branch therefore shows why Ḥ L Q should not immediately be reduced to one meaning.

Do all branches share one core?

Ibn Fāris’ analysis in Maqāyīs al-Lughah identifies three separate origins: removing head hair, a round implement or object, and height.

This division matters because it recognizes several independent fields, unlike explanations returning every derivative to the ring shape.

Some branches may have historical relationships, but a possible relationship differs from a demonstrated common origin.

For Qur’anic study, it suffices that shaving hair is a valid early meaning and that taḥliqū and muḥalliqīn belong directly to it.

Al-ḥulqūm requires separate discussion because its structure is not as straightforward as a simple triliteral verb.

Maqāyīs al-Lughah: three origins of Ḥ L Q

3. Early Arabic witnesses

Shaving hair in social life

Shaving in pre-Islamic Arabian society was not limited to personal cleanliness. It could concern grooming, mourning, identifying groups, or particular social occasions.

Early historical accounts name an event between Bakr and Taghlib Yawmu Taḥlāqi al-Limam.

Limam is the plural of limmah, hair grown to around the ears or neck.

The account explaining the day’s name describes shaving hair to identify members of a group during battle.

The historical language therefore concerns removing actual hair, an action that could also have a social role.

The account was nevertheless transmitted in historical sources compiled after the pre-Islamic period. It supplies recorded usage and a historical narrative, without proving every event detail with certainty.

Ibn al-Athīr’s Al-Kāmil: the naming of Yawm Taḥlāq al-Limam

Nor can it establish that Qur’anic shaving means preparation for war or military identification. Qur’anic usage requires examination independently of that historical custom.

A bird’s flight in early poetry

A verse attributed to Al-Nābighah al-Dhubyānī reads:

إِذَا مَا الْتَقَى الْجَمْعَانِ حَلَّقَ فَوْقَهُمْ
عَصَائِبُ طَيْرٍ تَهْتَدِي بِعَصَائِبِ

idhā mā iltaqā al-jamʿāni ḥallaqa fawqahum / ʿaṣāʾibu ṭayrin tahtadī bi-ʿaṣāʾibi

Meaning: “When the two armies meet, flocks of birds rise in flight above them, some flocks finding their way by others.”

Ḥallaqa describes birds rising or moving above the armies.

The witness shows that early Arabic Form II was not restricted to shaving hair.

Its subject and context determine the meaning.

Muḥalliqīna ruʾūsakum in Al-Fatḥ 48:27 concerns people’s heads and hair, so flight or rising should not be transferred to it.

The poetic witness also cannot establish that taḥlīq must always mean circular movement. Height and flight belong to the field too.

Kitāb al-ʿAyn: the Al-Nābighah witness in this transmitted wording

Shaving and figurative destruction

Arabic iḥtalaqati al-sanatu al-māl describes a harsh year destroying wealth.

Removing hair has undergone semantic extension to the destruction of property.

The connection is intelligible: just as shaving removes hair from its place, destruction eliminates something.

This figurative use does not make ḥalq in the pilgrimage verses mean destruction or spiritual elimination.

Both shaving verses give ruʾūs, “heads,” as the object, concerning an actual action upon the human head.

Figurative uses help reveal linguistic possibilities, but should not replace a verse’s direct meaning.

4. Taḥliqū: prohibition of shaving in Al-Baqarah 2:196

Verse text

وَأَتِمُّوا الْحَجَّ وَالْعُمْرَةَ لِلَّهِ فَإِنْ أُحْصِرْتُمْ فَمَا اسْتَيْسَرَ مِنَ الْهَدْيِ وَلَا تَحْلِقُوا رُءُوسَكُمْ حَتَّىٰ يَبْلُغَ الْهَدْيُ مَحِلَّهُ فَمَنْ كَانَ مِنْكُمْ مَرِيضًا أَوْ بِهِ أَذًى مِنْ رَأْسِهِ فَفِدْيَةٌ مِنْ صِيَامٍ أَوْ صَدَقَةٍ أَوْ نُسُكٍ فَإِذَا أَمِنْتُمْ فَمَنْ تَمَتَّعَ بِالْعُمْرَةِ إِلَى الْحَجِّ فَمَا اسْتَيْسَرَ مِنَ الْهَدْيِ فَمَنْ لَمْ يَجِدْ فَصِيَامُ ثَلَاثَةِ أَيَّامٍ فِي الْحَجِّ وَسَبْعَةٍ إِذَا رَجَعْتُمْ تِلْكَ عَشَرَةٌ كَامِلَةٌ ذَٰلِكَ لِمَنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ أَهْلُهُ حَاضِرِي الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ

wa-atimmū al-ḥajja wa-al-ʿumrata li-Allāhi fa-in uḥṣirtum fa-mā istaysara mina al-hadyi wa-lā taḥliqū ruʾūsakum ḥattā yablugha al-hadyu maḥillahu fa-man kāna minkum marīḍan aw bihi adhan min raʾsihi fa-fidyatun min ṣiyāmin aw ṣadaqatin aw nusukin fa-idhā amintum fa-man tamattaʿa bi-al-ʿumrati ilā al-ḥajji fa-mā istaysara mina al-hadyi fa-man lam yajid fa-ṣiyāmu thalāthati ayyāmin fī al-ḥajji wa-sabʿatin idhā rajaʿtum tilka ʿasharatun kāmilatun dhālika li-man lam yakun ahluhu ḥāḍirī al-masjidi al-ḥarāmi wa-ittaqū Allāha wa-iʿlamū anna Allāha shadīdu al-ʿiqābi

English translation

Complete ḥajj and ʿumrah for The God. If you are prevented, then whatever offering is readily available; do not shave your heads until the offering reaches its place. Whoever among you is ill or has an affliction of the head owes compensation through fasting, charity, or rites. When you are secure, whoever benefits from ʿumrah until ḥajj, then whatever offering is readily available; whoever finds none should fast three days during ḥajj and seven upon returning. That is ten complete days. This concerns one whose family does not reside at the Sacred Mosque. Be mindful of The God, and know that The God is severe in retribution.

The verb’s construction and direct meaning

Taḥliqū is a Form I second-person plural imperfect following prohibitive lā.

Wa-lā taḥliqū is therefore an explicit prohibition.

Its object is ruʾūsakum. Arabic ḥalq al-raʾs concerns shaving the head’s hair.

It means neither cutting off the head nor merely washing or arranging the hair.

The direct translation is “do not shave your heads.” If Persian readers need clarification, reflection can explain that the head’s hair is intended.

Adding an implement, method, or technical details to the principal translation, however, lacks support.

The role of ḥattā yablugha al-hadyu maḥillahu

The prohibition has a specified limit:

“حَتَّىٰ يَبْلُغَ الْهَدْيُ مَحِلَّهُ.”

This identifies the time or situation until which the prohibition continues.

The Qur’an therefore connects shaving with the offering reaching its place, rather than mentioning shaving alone.

The connection matters for understanding the ruling.

Ḥalq itself nevertheless does not mean the offering’s arrival, completion of ḥajj, or leaving a ritual condition. Those concepts emerge from the full verse and the relationship among actions.

Maḥillahu also belongs to Ḥ L L, rather than Ḥ L Q. Similar initial letters must not merge the families in a morphological entry.

Does the verse command every pilgrim to shave?

Wa-lā taḥliqū ruʾūsakum prohibits shaving until the offering reaches its place.

Linguistically, prohibiting an action until a limit is reached does not necessarily make it obligatory afterward.

“Do not enter until this stage ends,” for example, allows the prohibition to end with that stage; a universal obligation to enter would be a further conclusion.

This distinction must be preserved in Al-Baqarah 2:196.

The verse specifies the prohibition’s time or condition. Whether shaving afterward is obligatory, optional, or one of several permitted forms for everyone requires other verses concerning ḥajj and ʿumrah.

Al-Fatḥ 48:27 matters because shaving and shortening occur together there.

Al-Baqarah 2:196 alone should therefore not establish that every pilgrim in all circumstances must shave off all head hair.

Illness and affliction of the head

The verse continues:

“فَمَنْ كَانَ مِنْكُمْ مَرِيضًا أَوْ بِهِ أَذًى مِنْ رَأْسِهِ فَفِدْيَةٌ مِنْ صِيَامٍ أَوْ صَدَقَةٍ أَوْ نُسُكٍ.”

Following the prohibition, it provides compensation through fasting, charity, or rites for illness or an affliction of the head.

The contextual connection between an affliction and needing relief from the shaving restriction is understandable.

Illness or a head condition may create a real need for an action ordinarily covered by the preceding prohibition.

The phrase itself does not repeat ḥalq, however. Explaining how the exception applies must therefore arise from the relationship among clauses, rather than silently adding an omitted verb to the direct translation.

This accords with the ruling’s principle: actual illness or affliction can affect how a responsibility is carried out.

Such an exception should nevertheless not be extended without evidence to any desired action or every kind of bodily grooming.

Does the prohibition cover beards, nails, and all body hair?

The explicit object is ruʾūsakum: your heads.

The verse concerns shaving heads, rather than all body hair.

The phrase names neither beards, nails, arm hair, leg hair, nor other body parts.

The root and this verse alone therefore cannot supply a universal catalogue of prohibitions concerning all body hair or trimming nails.

Attributing such rulings to The God requires independent Qur’anic evidence.

This distinction does not deny historical customs. A person may choose to observe a custom, but personal choice differs from presenting it as an obligatory divine ruling.

Forqan’s ḥajj article likewise preserves the boundary between explicit Qur’anic commands and details added later.

Ḥajj in the Qur’an

Shaving and completing the rites

Al-Ḥajj 22:29 mentions ending tafath, fulfilling vows, and circling the House.

Lexical and exegetical explanations sometimes identify shaving as one instance of removing tafath.

Tafath does not belong to Ḥ L Q, however, and that expression in Al-Ḥajj does not use the verb ḥalaqa.

This exegetical connection should therefore not make tafath lexically identical to shaving or supply every detail of shaving from that verse.

The relationship among the actions can be examined separately in studying the rites; the direct meaning of shaving must remain independent in this root study.

Lexical conclusion: Taḥliqū in Al-Baqarah 2:196 denotes shaving the head’s hair. The verse prohibits it until the offering reaches its place and also addresses illness or head affliction. The verb alone cannot supply a wider body of ritual rulings.

5. Muḥalliqīn: shaving heads in Al-Fatḥ 48:27

Verse text

لَقَدْ صَدَقَ اللَّهُ رَسُولَهُ الرُّءْيَا بِالْحَقِّ لَتَدْخُلُنَّ الْمَسْجِدَ الْحَرَامَ إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ آمِنِينَ مُحَلِّقِينَ رُءُوسَكُمْ وَمُقَصِّرِينَ لَا تَخَافُونَ فَعَلِمَ مَا لَمْ تَعْلَمُوا فَجَعَلَ مِنْ دُونِ ذَٰلِكَ فَتْحًا قَرِيبًا

laqad ṣadaqa Allāhu rasūlahu al-ruʾyā bi-al-ḥaqqi la-tadkhulunna al-masjida al-ḥarāma in shāʾa Allāhu āminīna muḥalliqīna ruʾūsakum wa-muqaṣṣirīna lā takhāfūna fa-ʿalima mā lam taʿlamū fa-jaʿala min dūni dhālika fatḥan qarīban

English translation

The God has truly fulfilled the vision for His messenger: you will certainly enter the Sacred Mosque, if The God wills, in security, with heads shaved or hair shortened, without fear. He knew what you did not know and appointed a near opening before that.

Examining the use

Muḥalliqīn is a sound masculine plural active participle from Form II.

Its base verb is ḥallaqa, concerning shaving hair in this context.

It is accusative and connected with the addressees’ state upon entering the Sacred Mosque.

Muqaṣṣirīn also occurs in the same expression.

The two descriptions belong to different roots: muḥalliqīn to Ḥ L Q and muqaṣṣirīn to Q Ṣ R.

The verse therefore mentions two different ways of attending to the head’s hair.

Shaving and shortening

Ḥalq concerning hair means removing or shaving it.

Taqṣīr from Q Ṣ R, by contrast, concerns shortening.

Here muqaṣṣirīn denotes people shortening hair, rather than necessarily shaving all their head hair.

This real distinction must be preserved in translation.

Translating both as shaving would conceal the significance of using different derivatives.

Muqaṣṣirīn also cannot mean people failing in their responsibility here: it accompanies muḥalliqīna ruʾūsakum and concerns hair.

Q Ṣ R here therefore means shortening, rather than ethical failure or neglect.

Must one person perform both actions?

Muḥalliqīna ruʾūsakum wa-muqaṣṣirīn joins two descriptions with wāw.

Their combination alone nevertheless cannot establish that every individual must both shave the head and shorten its hair.

Arabic plural addressees can encompass groups with different conditions or conduct.

The natural reading is therefore that shaving or shortening occurs among the addressees in the promised safe entry.

The expression alone also does not specify every detail of choosing between the actions.

The participles do not fully establish who does which, how much hair is shortened, or at what ritual stage it occurs.

Is muḥalliqīn a command?

No. The verse’s construction must be preserved.

Al-Fatḥ 48:27 uses muḥalliqīn to describe the situation in the fulfilled vision and promise of safe entry to the Sacred Mosque.

It is not an imperative verb.

The verse does not say ḥalliqū ruʾūsakum, “shave your heads”; it describes the addressees as shaving or shortening their hair.

It thus connects actual shaving and shortening with rites and safe entry, but the descriptive form cannot supply every detail of obligation, timing, and method without independent argument.

This distinction also matters in comparison with Al-Baqarah 2:196.

Al-Baqarah has the explicit prohibition wa-lā taḥliqū; Al-Fatḥ has descriptive muḥalliqīn alongside muqaṣṣirīn.

The two verses therefore differ in kind of expression despite sharing a subject.

Does muḥalliqīn mean completely shaving every hair?

Arabic ḥallaqa raʾsahu concerns shaving the head’s hair and differs from ordinary shortening.

The participle nevertheless does not detail the remaining amount of hair, implement, or shaving method.

Form II alone should also not establish that the action must be repeated several times or that every part of the head must be shaved in exactly the same manner.

In this family, Form II can concern an action’s extent or plurality, but precise manner requires usage and context.

What is clear is the distinction between shaving and shortening.

Shaving and security

The verse brings together three elements: entering the Sacred Mosque, security, and shaving or shortening hair.

Āminīn and lā takhāfūn emphasize security and absence of fear.

Shaving here therefore appears within safe entry to the Sacred Mosque.

Ḥ L Q itself does not mean security; security comes from other words and expressions.

Nor does their association establish that everyone who shaves has necessarily attained a particular degree of mindfulness or divine acceptance.

The tangible action belongs to a ritual context, but a person’s worth should not be determined solely from their hair’s appearance.

Lexical conclusion: Muḥalliqīn in Al-Fatḥ 48:27 describes people with heads shaved or engaged in shaving their head hair. It differs from muqaṣṣirīn, and the description alone is not an independent command with every procedural detail.

6. Al-ḥulqūm: the throat and disagreement over root structure

Al-Wāqiʿah 56:83

Verse text

فَلَوْلَا إِذَا بَلَغَتِ الْحُلْقُومَ

fa-lawlā idhā balaghati al-ḥulqūma

English translation

Then why, when it reaches the throat…

Examining the use

Al-ḥulqūma is a definite accusative noun denoting the throat.

Arabic ḥulqūm is used particularly for the respiratory passage in the neck.

Some early explanations relate it closely to ḥalq, while others analyze it as a word with four root consonants.

Understanding the verse should begin by preserving its clear meaning: the throat.

Its disputed derivation nevertheless must not be concealed in a Ḥ L Q study.

Does al-ḥulqūm belong to Ḥ L Q?

Qur’anic morphological indexes commonly count al-ḥulqūm under triliteral Ḥ L Q.

Some lexical sources also treat it under Ḥ L Q M.

Two structural analyses are proposed.

One places ḥulqūm within the ḥalq family, treating the additional letters as parts of the word’s formation.

The other treats final mīm as a root consonant, assigning the word to a quadriliteral family.

The disagreement is real; resemblance between ḥalq and ḥulqūm alone must not make either analysis certain.

A project whose principal index follows triliteral roots can therefore discuss al-ḥulqūm under Ḥ L Q while explaining the derivational caution. Forqan’s current index retains the Ḥ L Q M analysis for this word.

Ibn ʿUṣfūr’s Al-Mumtiʿ: the quadriliteral analysis of ḥulqūm

It should not become certain evidence for a common origin of shaving, circular rings, and the throat.

Al-Ṣiḥāḥ and Tāj al-ʿArūs: al-ḥulqūm and the final-mīm disagreement

Ḥalq and ḥulqūm

Anatomical ḥalq denotes the throat region.

Ḥulqūm also describes a particular part or passage there.

Some early lexical and anatomical descriptions distinguish the breathing passage from the passage of food.

On that account, ḥulqūm chiefly concerns breathing and voice and should not carelessly be equated with every internal neck structure or solely the food passage.

Al-Wāqiʿah 56:83, however, is not an anatomical account. It names a familiar bodily region, naturally rendered “throat” in Persian.

Complex anatomical terminology is neither necessary in translation nor established by the phrase.

What reaches the throat?

The verse contains balaghat without an explicitly named subject in the clause itself.

The following verses describe a person facing death and those around them unable to reverse the situation.

The familiar reading concerns life or the soul reaching the throat at death.

Direct wording must nevertheless be distinguished from contextual explanation.

Rūḥ, “spirit,” does not occur in Al-Wāqiʿah 56:83 itself. Adding “spirit” or “soul” therefore supplies an interpretive clarification of the verb’s referent, rather than translating a noun explicitly present.

“When it reaches the throat” is thus more literal; reflection can then explain the context of approaching death.

The following verses and the limits of human power

Al-Wāqiʿah 56:84 states:

وَأَنْتُمْ حِينَئِذٍ تَنْظُرُونَ

wa-antum ḥīnaʾidhin tanẓurūna

English translation

While you look on at that moment.

Al-Wāqiʿah 56:85 states:

وَنَحْنُ أَقْرَبُ إِلَيْهِ مِنْكُمْ وَلَٰكِنْ لَا تُبْصِرُونَ

wa-naḥnu aqrabu ilayhi minkum wa-lākin lā tubṣirūna

English translation

We are nearer to him than you, but you do not see.

After the condition in Al-Wāqiʿah 56:86, Al-Wāqiʿah 56:87 continues:

تَرْجِعُونَهَا إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ

tarjiʿūnahā in kuntum ṣādiqīna

English translation

[Then why] do you not bring it back, if you are truthful?

The sequence highlights the human situation before death and the limits of human power. Tarjiʿūnahā is an imperfect verb continuing the rhetorical question introduced by fa-lawlā; it is not an imperative form.

Al-Ṭabarī on Al-Wāqiʿah 56:87: tarjiʿūnahā continues fa-lawlā in Al-Wāqiʿah 56:83 and Al-Wāqiʿah 56:86

Al-ḥulqūm alone nevertheless does not mean death, return of the soul, or human incapacity.

Those meanings emerge from context and accompanying verbs.

The whole passage’s meaning should therefore not be compressed into ḥulqūm itself.

Is ḥulqūm connected with a ring?

One can consider the throat passage’s bodily shape and ring-like structures in some of its parts.

That resemblance nevertheless does not establish the word’s historical origin.

Especially given the disputed triliteral or quadriliteral derivation, the ring shape cannot be treated as the certain reason for the name.

It is therefore preferable to present al-ḥulqūm as a word with a clear bodily meaning while leaving its derivation open.

Lexical conclusion: Al-ḥulqūm in Al-Wāqiʿah 56:83 denotes the throat. Context connects it with death, but the implicit subject pronoun’s referent and the event’s manner require reflection. Its precise assignment to Ḥ L Q or Ḥ L Q M remains a legitimate lexical disagreement.

7. Distinguishing morphological forms and related roots

Ḥalaqa and ḥallaqa

Ḥalaqa is Form I and denotes shaving in uses concerning hair.

Ḥallaqa is Form II and can describe the same action with attention to extent or plurality in some contexts.

Al-Baqarah 2:196 has taḥliqū; Al-Fatḥ 48:27 has Form II muḥalliqīn.

The forms alone do not establish that Al-Baqarah concerns shaving only part of the hair and Al-Fatḥ all of it.

Morphology itself does not conclusively supply that distinction.

The clearer difference is the kind of expression: prohibition in Al-Baqarah and description of the addressees in Al-Fatḥ.

Ḥ L Q (ḥalaqa) compared with Q Ṣ R (qaṣara)

Study of Q Ṣ R (Not yet published)

This comparison matters most because Al-Fatḥ 48:27 itself places the two forms together.

Ḥalq concerning hair denotes shaving and removal.

Taqṣīr from Q Ṣ R here concerns shortening hair.

Shaving and shortening are therefore connected but different actions.

Muḥalliqīn and muqaṣṣirīn should not become a single Persian equivalent.

The distinction alone also cannot supply every jurisprudential detail concerning the amount shortened, shaving implement, or superiority of one method.

Ḥ L Q (ḥalaqa) compared with J Z Z (jazza)

Arabic jazza denotes cutting wool or hair, particularly in connection with certain animals.

Ḥalq also concerns hair removal.

Their fields are close, without making them absolute synonyms.

The kind of hair and manner of cutting can determine which Arabic word is chosen.

Ḥalq in the pilgrimage verses should consequently not be extended without evidence to every kind of shortening or clipping.

Ḥ L Q (ḥalaqa) compared with Q Ṭ ʿ (qaṭaʿa)

Study of Q Ṭ ʿ

Qaṭʿ concerns cutting and separation and has a broad semantic field.

Shaving can involve cutting or removing hair, but Ḥ L Q in this use denotes a more particular action.

Not every cutting action is ḥalq.

Nor should shaving import all the senses of qaṭʿ, such as severing a bond, cutting off a route, or separating a bodily part.

Ḥ L Q (ḥalaqa) compared with Ḥ L L (ḥalla)

Study of Ḥ L L

Ḥ L L is an independent and frequent Qur’anic root concerning untying, descending, settling, and being permitted.

Maḥillahu in Al-Baqarah 2:196 belongs to that root, rather than Ḥ L Q.

The proximity of ḥalq and maḥill in one verse should therefore not equate the offering’s place or the end of a restriction with shaving hair.

Their relationship is contextual; they remain independent roots.

Ḥ L Q (ḥalaqa) compared with Ṭ W F (ṭāfa)

Study of Ṭ W F

Arabic ṭawāf concerns going around or circling.

Ḥalqah is also a round shape, and circling flight is recorded in the Ḥ L Q family.

The shared image cannot establish that shaving during ḥajj is itself a kind of ṭawāf or lexically identical to circling the House.

The Qur’an uses Ṭ W F for ṭawāf and Ḥ L Q for shaving.

Any ritual connection requires the relevant pilgrimage verses, rather than equating the roots.

Ḥ L Q (ḥalaqa) compared with Ḥ L Q M (ḥalqama)

Study of Ḥ L Q M (Not yet published)

These matter particularly for al-ḥulqūm.

Some lexical analyses return ḥulqūm to triliteral Ḥ L Q.

Others count final mīm as a radical, yielding Ḥ L Q M.

If Forqan’s triliteral index places al-ḥulqūm under Ḥ L Q, this disagreement must therefore remain explicit.

Merely appearing together in one index must not become certain proof of historical derivation.

8. Translation proposals for Forqan

For taḥliqū in Al-Baqarah 2:196, “shave” is natural and precise.

In wa-lā taḥliqū ruʾūsakum, the principal proposal is “do not shave your heads.”

Reflection can explain that this concerns the head’s hair, rather than cutting off the head itself.

For muḥalliqīn in Al-Fatḥ 48:27, “those shaving their heads,” or naturally in a sentence, “with your heads shaved,” is appropriate.

Muqaṣṣirīn must be translated separately, for example “those shortening their hair” or “with your hair shortened.”

Both should not be rendered as people shaving their heads.

The translation should also preserve Al-Fatḥ 48:27’s descriptive construction without adding a new imperative.

“Throat” is the natural equivalent for al-ḥulqūma in Al-Wāqiʿah 56:83.

Adding “soul” or “spirit” to clarify the referent of balaghat’s subject pronoun requires caution in direct translation, since neither noun occurs in the phrase.

If fluent translation requires explaining that unnamed referent, its contextual origin should remain clear.

Non-Qur’anic forms likewise require separate translations of “ring,” “shaving,” “circling flight,” and “rising,” according to construction and subject.

The important principle is not to reduce them all to one Persian equivalent.

9. Final synthesis

Arabic Ḥ L Q has several recognized fields: shaving and removing hair, rings and round structures, and sometimes rising or circling in the air.

Ḥalq meaning the throat is also treated within this family. Al-ḥulqūm has a clear meaning but disputed precise root structure.

The two principal Qur’anic uses whose root assignment is not seriously disputed concern shaving the head’s hair.

Taḥliqū in Al-Baqarah 2:196 is part of an explicit prohibition. Shaving is prohibited until the offering reaches its place, followed by discussion of illness or head affliction.

Muḥalliqīn in Al-Fatḥ 48:27 describes people shown in the vision of safe entry to the Sacred Mosque alongside others who shorten their hair.

The two verses show shaving as a real, tangible act in ḥajj and ʿumrah, rather than merely an image of inward purification.

The root alone nevertheless cannot supply every ritual detail, amount of hair, implement, prohibition concerning other body parts, or condition invalidating ḥajj.

Al-ḥulqūm in Al-Wāqiʿah 56:83 denotes the throat amid facing death. It should not arbitrarily be equated with shaving or the ring shape.

Early lexical witnesses also show that the family exceeds one simple image. Explaining every branch through a circle, however appealing for some uses, does not establish their shared historical origin.

Final definition: In its direct Qur’anic pilgrimage uses, Ḥ L Q denotes shaving and removing head hair. Across Arabic, distinct branches also concern rings, round shapes, and height. Al-ḥulqūm means the throat, but its precise derivation from the triliteral root is disputed.

Three boundaries must therefore be preserved: shaving versus shortening, the actual action versus its ritual ruling or consequence, and shared letters versus a demonstrated common historical origin.

These distinctions preserve the real meaning of Qur’anic head shaving while preventing interpretations and rulings requiring independent evidence from replacing the lexical meaning.